 |
|
|---|---|
|
| SULABH
MOVEMENT RESTORING HUMAN RIGHTS |
 |
|
|
|
|
 Dalit girls being trained in various skills at Sulabh Training Centre in New Delhi |
Skill developments is important for all but it is crucial for the less educated. To the members of Scheduled Castes, including Balmikis, it has a pointed relevance. Not only are they low in litracy and education but also they have few skills which can come up to the standards of market demands.
The range of skills which Balmikis are endowed with are such traditional crafts as sanitation, midwifery, leather work, basket-making, etc. Most of these works are low paying and considered unclean jobs. This has somehow lowered their status in society and given rise to untouchability. Ironically, several legal and voluntary efforts for the eradication of scavenging have added to their problems, requiring their occupational rehabilitation.
|
Considering the enormity of the problem for occupational rehabilitation Sulabh has paid a pointed attention to skill development and Vocational Training of the wards of Balmikis. For them in 1992 a Vocational Training Centre was set up in Delhi. The training Centre aspires to provide skill development training to the boys and girls from weaker sections, so that their talent and potential, to the fullest extent, could be exploited to achieve better economic and social adjustment. The Centre is located in Mahavir Enclave of Palam Village, the area being mostly inhabited by persons from lower socio-economic strata. At present, thee Training Centre offers training in eight market-relevant trades : (a) audio-equipment and television repair; (b) Beauty-care; (c) Driving; (d) Electrical; (e) embroidery; (f) Garment-making; (g) Tailoring; (h) typing. each course is of six months, except Driving which is of two months' duration. Most of these trades are evaluated by ITI staff and certificates are awarded by the Directorate of Training and Technical Education, NCT of Delhi.
|
Slums have become a sordid feature of towns and cities. Usually inhabited by persons from the lowest rung of society, hutments are denoted by physical and social degradation. Having unplanned and congested shanties, rarely do they have proper civic amenities. These unsavoury conditions breed numerous social problems. What is more ominous, the brunt of slum culture is borne by children and youngsters.
 Children taking physical excercise in the Sulabh school campus |
Many of them have never been to school or are drop outs. For want of organised recreation, they loiter around the squalid locality. A few of them also engage in such low paying work as rag picking, domestic help and dish washing in wayside kiosks, or they simply live by streets. Deprived of childhood, they are exposed to several physical and social hazards. Seldom do their parents realize their situation. Could they be left to their situation. Could they be left to their fate?
For the unprivileged children, Sulabh International Centre for Action Sociology has launched a welfare programme. Its goal is to provide them programmed activities, so as to prevent their physical, social and moral drift, and to develop their personality.
At present programme for slum children has been organized at Mahavir Enclave located in the very midst of their hutments. Running in the afternoon, 2 to 5 p.m., the programme draws upon the resources (rooms, playground, etc.) of the Sulabh Public School (which closes at 1 p.m.). Four volunteers (teachers, office-workers, etc.) join hands and handle different programme components). (a) Sulabh volunteers contact and mobilize parents in slum households in and around Mahavir Enclave, for allowing their non-school-going children to participate in the programme in the afternoon. (b) These boys and girls are given check-up for hygiene and cleanliness. (c) They undergo supervised physical training. (d) They receive instruction in basic and functional literacy in accordance with a pre-designed syllabus. (e) Their scholastic achievement is periodically examined or evaluated. (f) They participate in drill and group games. (g) They are given instructions in group song and dance by trained volunteers. (h) On special occasions, they perform on the stage before an audience.
All these services are provided to slum children on no cost basis.
Chairman,
Sulabh International Centre for Action Sociology
Sulabh Bhawan, Mahavir Enclave,
New Delhi-110 045, (India)
Tel. : 25032617, 25031518, 25031519, 25032654;
Fax : (091-11) 25036122, 25034014
